And george yule



4 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

P. GOGKER & G. YULE.

HAT GURLING MACHINE.

No. 323,296. Patented July 28, 1885 Jil s vi.-

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4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

F. COOKER & G. YULE.

HAT OURLING MACHINE. No. 328,296 Patented July 28, 1885.

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4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

(No Model.)

F. COOKER & G. YULE. HAT GURLI NG MAGHINE. No. 323,29; Patented July 28, 1885. m/ 1 2 2 h 1/ 9 My H J] f t- M 4 flcdXCZoZe? gem Zak N PETERS, Phuloulhogn her. Wa-hiu tm. D. c.

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4. IE. COOKER & G. YULE.

HAT OURLING MAGHINE. No. 323,296. Patented July 28, 1 885.

I Z 11 E I z' llnrrnn grains FATENT @FFi'CEo FREDERICK COOKER, OF

DAXBURY, CONNECTICUT, AND GEORGE YULE, OF NEWARK, NEYV JERSEY.

HAT-CURLING MACHINE.

SPEGEFZCHaTZON forming part of Letters Patent No. 323,296, dated July 28, 1885.

Application [ilcd March 24, 1885.

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, FREDERICK (location,

a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, and

Gnonen YULE, a citizen of the United States, 5 residing, respectively, in Danbury and Newark, counties of Fairfield and Essex, and

States of Connecticut and New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hat-Curling Machines, fully described and I represented in the following specification and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same.

This invention relates to such hat-curling machines as are'constructed with tool-holders sustained independently of the brim-supporting plate; and it consists in the combination, with such holders and with tool-carriers adjustable to and from the hat-clamp in slides upon said holders, ofcurling-tools constructed and operated. to rest freely upon the hat-brim, to exert a yielding pressure thereon.

Hcretofore the machines provided with so p ports (independent of the brimplate) for the toolcarriers, and with curling-tools for bending and pressing the edge of the hat-brim into a flat curl, have been provided with reetilineal guides or carriers for such tools, and the tools have been rigidly attached thereto, so as to stand, when in operation, a certain distance abovethebrim-supporting plate,such distance being proportioned to thepassage of the thick est felts, and thereby forming a throat-of fixed dimensions, to which the bent curl was conformed in its rotary movement with the brim plate. -Ve have shown herein, at. Figs. and 6, a machine of this class, in which a variable and yielding throat was substituted for the rigid one heretofore used,and which was here tofore unable to press felts of different or varying thicknesses with the same degree of hardness. As a consequence of such unyielding action of the prrssing device the curling-machines of such class were unable to press flat curls hard and close upon a large lot of hats, and it therefore became necessary to subject them all to an additional hand-pressure with an iron upon a work-bench after they had been removed from the curling-machine.

XVe are aware that in Patent No. 256,398, issued April ll, 1882, a yielding pressing-tool is employed; and we do not, therefore, make (No model.)

claim merely to a yielding pressing-tool. In such patent, however, the yielding pressingtool is not combined with a tool-carrier adj ustable to and from the hat-clamp upon its holder, but is hinged directly to a block of metal,which is fitted to a groove upon the upper face of the brim-plate adjacent to the hatbriin. Such a construction greatly limits the range of work to which the machine is applica- 6c ble, as a series of elliptical grooves is necessarily required in the surface of the plate to set the pressing-tool at different distances from the hat-clamp. No adjustments intermediate I to the several grooves can be secured, and the 6 5 hat-brim cannot be conveniently operated upon if it extends over the innermost grooves. Having thus distinguished our construction from that referred to, we disclaim the said Patent No. 256,898, as the particularimprove- 7o ment which we have made in the iron relates only to the application of a yielding flattener to such machines ashave sliding tool-carriers movable to and from the hat-clamp in independent-ly-vibrated holders.

Our invention also consists in the combination, with the yielding iron, of certain removable and adjustable weights to increase the pressure, and in means for conveniently lifting the pressing-tool from the brim-plate to So insert the felt beneath it.

These improvements will be understood by reference to the annexed drawings, in which Figure l is a side elevation of a machine illustrating various means for applying a weight 8 adj ustably to a curlingtool and for lifting the tool when required. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of such machine, both views showing the tool-carriers mounted upon holders with a rectilineal movement. Figs. 3 and 4 are rec spectively front and side views of a machine having the tool -carriers mounted upon oscillating arms, as claimed in a copending patent application, No. 142,205, the tool-can riers in all the above-mentioned figures being 5 pivoted to the holders, so that the tools may rest freely upon the brim-plate or hat-felt. Fig. 5 is a side view of a curlingmachine having rectilinealslidingholders and tool-carriers, but having the curlingtools secured thereto in too such manner as to press in a yielding manner upon the hat-curl. Fig. 6 is a plan of the same, and Fig. 7 is an end view of the brimplate and the right-hand tool,viewed from the hat-clamp. Fig, 8 is aplan, and Fig. 9 aside View, of the combined breaker and separator, the arm Z being broken off; and Fig. 10 is an end view of the iron h shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 11 is a central section on line 2 z in Fig. 10, showing an alternative construction for the upper end for the rod 1'.

Different means may be used for bringing an auxiliary weight to operate upon the tool in the laterstage of the curling operation, and such means may consist in a detachable con nection between the weight and the curlingtool; or it may consist in a treadle connected with the same, and operating, when depressed by the foot of the work man, to raise the weight or the weight and tool together.

Our improvements are especially adapted for the manufacture of fiat or Anglesea curls, as such curls require very considerable pressure at the latter stages of the curling operation to thoroughly break down the fold of the curl to make it permanently retain the de-- sired form. \Ve have therefore shown our improvements applied to a machine in which a breaker is associated with the plow or curl-.

ing-iron; but we do not limit the application ofourimprovements to any such combination.

Various constructions for carrying our invention into operation are shown in the annexed drawings; but any part of theimprovements shown may be applied to a curling-machine without using the others.

W'e will first describe Figs. land 2, in which our improvements are shown applied to a machine constructed with the same class of brimplate, cam, and rectilineal sliding holders as have long been used in hat-curling machines, the tool-carriers and their guides being modified, so as to swing freely upon a pivot on the holder, so that the iron might be moved to and from the hatbrim vertically. The same letters refer also to the same parts in the other figures.

A is the bed of the machine, provided with hearing A for a vertical shaft, 0, which operates the brim-plate B and cam G; and B is the hatclamp, constructed in any suitable manner to rotate the hat with the brim-plate.

D are slides fitted in ways D, attached to the bed and provided with adjustable rollers (1 operating in conjunction with the cam to reciprocate the slides in the usual. manner.

- E are guides, formed as blocks, pivoted atF in bearings upon the slides D, and provided with longitudinal grooves c to fit adjustable tool-carriers g.

h is the curling-ironemployed to break the curl, and hthe opposite iron for flattening the same, the former being provided with a breaker, Z, which is not required with the flattening-iron; and the guides are so constructed that the carriers may slide in them to and from the hat-clamp, and rest, by means of their pivoted connections with the slides D, freely upon the hat-brim on the plateB. The

hat is omitted from Fig. 1; but the iron h is shown clear from the brim-plate the same distance as when thehat-brim is between the two.

Z is the breaker, of a beveled form, consisting in a metallic finger bent to fit within the curl of the hat, and hinged to a fulcrum, 1', upon the guide E by means of an arm, Z.

Three different means of applying the pressure to the curling-tool and lifting the iron or weight are shown in Figs. 1 and 2, I being a treadle pivoted at t at the base of the machine, with an arm, I, extended backward and connected with a vertical rod, 1", which is shown at the left side of Fig. l pivoted to the tool-carrier g, and at the right side bent to enter an aperture, j, in the side of the tool, and shaped to press the iron downward by contact with its bottom on the insidej ust above the point where it operates upon the hat-brim. It is obvious that pressure upon the outer end of the treadle will operate to raise the rod 1 and to lift the tool-carrier or the iron from the hat-brim. In Fig. 2 a stem, m, is shown projected from the arm I to receive an adjust able weight, m which operates to pull the rod I downward, and to thus transmit an adjustable pressure to the iron, as shown at the right side of Fig. 1, or to the tool-carrier, if

the rod be connected therewith, as shown at the left side of Fig. 1.

In practice, the tools at theleft of the brimplate are used alone, at first to break the flat brim of the hat, during which operation the flattener h is retracted, and when the curl is sufficiently bent over for the flattener to operate upon it the flattening-iron requires to be lifted, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and the carrier pushed forward by the rack and pinion shown at L and e to bring it over the brim, upon which it is then dropped by removing the foot from the treadle I.

A means of applying the hooked end of the rod 1 to press upon the center of the iron is shown in Figs. 1, 2, 10, and 11, where n is a prong bent downward from the inner end of the rod 1" and formed at its upper end with a conical recess, M. J is an aperture in the side of the iron, through which the prong n is introduced within the same, and 0 is a setscrew inserted through the top of the iron into the recess to retain the rod and the iron movably in their proper relation when the iron is raised and lowered by the treadle.

At the left side of Fig. l a movable weight, Q, is shown, pivoted by a shank, r, to a pin, r, upon the side of the toolcari iar, and held above its point of connection in either of two inclined positions by pins 8 s, afixed to. the side of the carrier. The weight is thrown into an operative or inoperative position by turning it back and forth into contact with the pins, the weight moving to or from the center of the hat-clamp B as it is moved into contact, respectively, with the pins 8 or s.

The tool h, its carrier 9, and guide E being pivoted at F, it is obvious that the iron rests freely upon the brim of the hat or the curl when in operation. By reason of such pivoted support, the iron is readily pressed toward the brim with additional force by any superposed weight, and although the weight Q is attached to the carrier at a fixed point, it is obvious that the pressure it exerts upon the iron and the hat brim varies in proportion to its distance from the pivot F. The pivoted shank 1', therefore, furnishes a convenient means for varying such distance by turning the weight with its shank into contact wit-h the pin 3, as shown in black lines in the figure, or into contact with the pin 8, as shown in dotted lines at Q, the weight standing over the iron in the former instance and nearly over the pivot F in the latter. Such a construction affords the means of applying an additional pressure upon the hat-brim at any stage of the curling operation, the weight being thrown against the pin 8 and producing little or no effect up on the hat-brim at other times.

\Ve are aware that E. Tweedy and Geo. Yule have shown in patent application No. 142,205 a treadle having a rod connected with the carrier in such manner as to produce, by downward pressure of the operators foot, an auxiliary pressure during the curling opera tion. \Ve entirely disclaim such a construc tion for the treadle, and limit our present invention exclusively to the combination, with a curling-tool or its carrier, of a rod attached to a treadle in such manner as to lift the tool or carrier by the downward pressure of the operators foot. In the construction shown in the said prior patent application thetreadlepressure could only be produced by the continued actuation of the treadle, thereby eonfining the workman to the machine at that stage of the operation when he might be engaged in preparing another hat for the curling operation; and even then pressure could not be effected in a uniform manner, as ahigh degree of skill was required to determine what force was exerted by the foot, while in our invention the required pressure is produced air tomatically, after the weight is adjusted, without any attention on the part of the operator, who is thereby enabled to let the machine operate automatically for a time. while he prepares another hat for treatment.

In Fig. 2 the weight m is represented as adjustable upon its stem m by means of a setscrew, in"; but we have also shown,in dotted lines in Fig. 2, and black lines in Fig. 1, a weight, in", hinged upon the pivot at the lower end of the rod 1 and movable to and from the fulcrum of the treadle, to produce the same variable effect as described for the weight Q. Such movable weight is shown upon the treadle at the left side of Fig. 1, and may evidently be moved by the foot of the operator into its operative position, as shown in Fig. 2, or tipped forward over the fulcrum it, where it will produce no effect upon the curlingtool.

For convenience of illustration, the abovedescribed means of carryingout our invention are all shown applied to the same machine; but in practice the machine would be constructed with any one or more of the improve ments, as might be preferred. Thus we have shown,in Figs. 3 and 4, ahat-curling machine of a different construction, in which the toolcarriers are pivoted to the vibrating arms D pivoted upon the frame of the machine A at D the treadle being applied exclusively to the flattening iron, which in these figures is pivoted to the carrier and has the weight shown at t, and removably attached to the carrier by a shank, 7b, fitted into a hole upon the carrier.

The iron is shown connected with the carrier by a universal joint, and having a handle, 1', as claimed in a copending application of Goo. Ynles; and it is obvious that with this construction the weight operates to press the iron upon the hat-brim and the treadle operates to lift the same, when desired, as in the construction of Fig. 1.

In all the figures referred to, a gear, (3", is provided to rotate the hat-clamp, and in Fig. 4 a pinion, O and a clutch, a are shown connected therewith, to transmit to the machine the required rotary motion from a pulley, I). In Fig. 4 are also shown a screw, a, for adjusting the tools, and segments U and weight V for actuating the arms D as claimed in the said copending application. In Figs. 5, 6, and 7 we have also shown a means of ap plying the yielding iron to the Carrington hat-curling machine, in which the tool-carriers are not pivoted, as at Fin Figs. 1 and 3, but move to and from the hat-clamp on straight dovetails E. In these figures A is the bed of the machine; D, the ways fixed to the bed. 8 are bars reciprocated by rollers n in contact with a cam, 15*, and having the holders D adjustably mounted upon dovetails rthereon. The carriersare shown at g. The breaking and flattening irons at Ir and If, respectively, and a breaker and separator at b and If. The breaker is hinged to lugs Z upon the holder by an arm, Z, and the separator is similarly hinged uponthe opposite holder by an arm, 1*. Such separator, as shown of the full size in Figs. 8 and 9, consists in a thin piece of sheet metal fitted within the curl c, as shown under the iron h to prevent the sticking of the curl to the under brim and to afford a hard surface upon which the curl can be effectually pressed, as claimed by us in another applcation, No. 159,814, filed herewith. \Vith the use of such separator we are enabled to employ a pressure many times greater than has been heretofore used for flattening the hatcurl, as such pressure has heretofore tended, for want of the separator, to press the curl into the under brim and to injuriously mark the latter.

The irons or curling-tools in this class of machine have been heretofore rigidly secured to the tool-carrier and were necessarily seen red a sufficient distance above the brim-plate B to clear the thickest brim which was to pass I OC between the two. The contiguous surfaces of the flattening-iron and brim-plate thus formed an unyielding throat in which the curl was likely to be jammed if it exceeded the proper thickness, and which was not only incapable of exerting a yielding pressure upon a brim or curl of uneven thickness at different points in its periphery, but entirely unfitted to press the curl hard down upon the brim, if the fold of the curl did not fill such throat by reason of an unusual thinness in the felt.

At If, in Figs. 5, 6, and 7, we have shown the first device we employed to render theiron yielding in the Oarrington machine, and, therefore, self-adjusting to the variations of thickness in the brims of different hats or at different points in the same hat. The flattener Jr has been in such machines held rigidly to the carrier 9* by two bolts.00, the front of the carrier beingafiat vertical plate,'v,through which the bolts are inserted into the rear of the iron. An arrow, J, indicates the direction in which the hat rotates beneath the flat tener h, and the entrance of the curl beneath the iron is therefore facilitated by having its rear edge beveled upward, while the remainder of its under surface may rest fiat upon the brim or be tipped downward toward the brim-plate without injury to the felt. To render such an iron yielding, so as to form a selfadjusting throat for the passage of the curl, we filed a slot,- 0 as shown in Fig. 7, at the point where the bolt 0 was fitted through the plate 12, and attached to the front side of the iron a handle, H, and a weight, W. The bolt 0' being inserted through the slot, but not clamped tightly to the plate, permitted the iron to tip upon the bolt 0, as upon a fulcrum, and to press upon the brim-plate with the edge nearest the weight, as indicated at 'v in Fig. 7 The weight then operated to press the iron hard upon the curl as it rotated beneath it, and the handle served to lift the iron when the carrier and iron were moved forward to apply it over the partially-bent curl to press the latter toward the brim-plate. The weight WV was connected with the handle by a hook and link, w, thus enabling the op erator to apply weights of different sizes to operate upon brim-felts with different degrees of hardness. This device was entirely effectual in pressing brim-felts of all thicknesses with the same uniformity, and entirely obviated the subsequent hand-pressing which had been before required from the uneven effect of the rigid iron. The detachable connection between the weight and the fiattener, thus enabling us to adapt the iron to operate with the same effects upon either hard or soft fells the only additional improvement required was to provide a treadle to lift the iron and weight, as shown in the other constructions herein.

Upon the iron h, in Figs. 5 and 6, is shown an alternative means for making the iron selfadjusting vertically upon a rectilineal carrier, the front plate of the carrier at '0 being conl structed with a vertical dovetail, 22 to which the iron is fitted in such manner as to rise and fall by its own weight when resting freely upon the hat-brim.

The various constructions described above for making the fiattener or pressing-iron yield to the varying thickness of the hat or hats thus enable us to utilize the rectilineal slides or tool-carriers which have been found so desirable both to adjust the tool to hat-brims of different sizes and to retract the tool quickly when removing or inserting the hat.

By making the weight upon the flattener entirely removable, as shown at t in Fig. 3, we adapt the iron to operate equally well upon soft hat-felt, and upon those of the hardest character, as any required weight may be applied to the iron when desired. The adjustable weight shown at m in Fig.2 may also be arranged to vary the pressure in any desired degree by properly proportioning thearms of the treadle.

It will be seen from inspecting Figs. 2 and 11 that when the pressure of the rod I is transmitted to the iron at the middle of its width the iron is less liable to be tipped over and to exert a deficient pressure at some point upon its surface than when the rod is with one side of the carrier, as at the left side in Fig. 1.

Although G. Yule has shown the detachable weight t in a copending application, No. 142,205, the same is not claimed generically therein, but only in combination with a pivoted carrier; whereas it is obvious that such a weight may be attached to any yielding iron, as at WV in Fig. 5.

It is also evident that the treadle and con nections described herein, and illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, may be applied to the iron h in Fig. 6 by suitable modifications. These attachments were omitted from Figs. 5 to 7,inclusive, merely to avoid obscuring other parts which had not before been referred to.

We therefore claim ourinvention as follows:

1. In a hat-curling machine, the combination,with a rotating hat-clamp and brim-supporting plate, of a slide or guide affixed to a holder supported and vibrated independently of said brim-plate, a tool-carrier adjustable to and from the hat-clamp in such slide, and a pressing-tool affixed to the tool-carrier and constructed and operated to rest freely upon the plate or hat-brim and to exert a yielding pressure thereon, substantially as shown and described.

2. The combination, with. a rotating hatclamp and brim-supporting plate, of a tool carrier pivoted to a vibrating holder and having a curling-tool affixed to its free end and resting when in operation upon the hat-brim, and aseparate weight connected with the tool or its pivoted carrier and operating to press the brim toward the brim-plate.

3. In a hat-curling machine, the combination, with a curling-iron, of a weight operated to press the iron upon the hat-brim, and a treadle provided with a connection to the iron or its carrier and operated to lift the iron when pressed by the foot of the operator, sub stantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. In a hat-curling machine, the combination, with a curling-iron, of a carrier pivotedupon a vibrating slide, and a treadle provided with a connection to the iron and operated by the foot when pressed to lift the iron from the brimplate.

5. In a hat-curling machine, the combination, with a curling-iron, of a treadle and weight mounted upona common fulcrum,and a rod so connecting the same with the iron that the weight operates to depress the iron and the treadle operates when pressed by the foot to lift the iron.

6. In a hat-curling machine, the conihinatioinwith the curling-iron, of a weight to press the iron upon the hat-brim, and a rod connected with the weight and applied to the iron near the middle of its width to distribute the pressure of the weight, substantially in the manner set forth.

7. In a hat-curling machine, the combination,with a curling-iron, of acarrier movable upon a pivot. as described, a treadle operated when pressed by the foot to lift the iron, and atreadle-connection insertedin the side of the iron and applied to the bottom of the iron upon its inside, substantially in the manner set forth.

weightpivoted to a S. The combination, with a curling-iron, of a treadle-lever having a foot-plate attached at one side of the fulcrum and an adjustable weight and a liftingrod applied at the other side of the fulcrum, the lifting-rod being connected with the iron or its tool-carrier and operating to transmit an adjustable pressure to the iron as the weight is adjusted upon the treadle-lever, as and for the purpose set forth.

9. In ahatcurling machine, the combination, with the curling-iron, of a removable fixed point by a shank and arranged and operated to effect an increased or diminished pressure upon the iron when tipped back and forth upon its pivot.

10. In a hat-curling machine, the combinatiomwith a hat-clamp and aplate for supporting the hat-brin1,of a curling-tool resting freely upon the hat-brim and a weight reniovably attached to the curling-tool or its earrier,sub- I stantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FREDERICK COOKER. GEORGE YULE.

Witnesses:

Tnos. S. CRANE, HENRY J. MILLER. 

